Sheet-fastener.



G. L! EDGERTON. SHEET PASTBNBE. 13211101111011 BIL-ED JAN. 31, 1910.

987,349. Patented 111211121, 1911.

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GEORGE I. EDGERTON, 0F GOLDSBOBO, NORTH CAROLINA.

SHEET-FASTENEB.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE L. EDGERTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Goldsboro, in the county of Wayne and State of North Carolina, have invented a new and useful Sheet-Fastener, of which the following is a specification.

In weighing loose cotton, it is customary to place the cotton to be weighed in a large sheet of canvas and then assemble the four corners of the sheet and connect the same by tying a knot therein or in some other way, and it is the object of the present invention to provide a device with which the said four corners of such a sheet may be readily engaged and from which they may be as readily disengaged, the device being so constructed as to permit of the engagement therewith of the suspension hook of the ordinary scale beam employed in the weighing operation. Necessarily, the tying of knots in the corners of a cotton weighing sheet consumes considerable time and even more time is consumed in untying these corners which must be done after each weighing operation, and consequently, many times a day. The device of the present invention, however, as before stated, is so constructed that the corners of the sheet may be readily engaged therewith and held thereby in assembled relation.

In the accompanying drawings,Figure 1 is a perspective view of one form of the device, the said view illustrating the manner in which the corners of a sheet are to be engaged with the device. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view. Fig. 3 is a top plan View.

In the drawings, the device is illustrated as embodying a number of cloth gripping members which are connected by an element with which is to be engaged the suspension hook of an ordinary scale beam, and as a rectangular sheet is usually employed in the operation above mentioned, four of the gripping devices are preferably employed, and as these devices are of counterpart structure, a description of one will suffice for all.

Each of the devices includes a body 5 which is preferably of wood and is wedgeshaped, being tapered toward its upper end, its forward and rear faces being non-parallel and its lateral faces being parallel. For a purpose which will presently be explained,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 31, 1910.

Patented Mar. 2ft, r9311.

Serial No. 54L13G.

a sheet metal strip 6 is bent upon itself in V-form, and the body 5 of the device is inserted between the spaced portions of this strip and secured by rivets or the like, indicated by the numeral 7, driven through the end portions of the strip and through the block comprising the body, it being observed that the extremities of the strip are bent to lie against the base of the block, as indicated by the numeral 8, the presentation of sharp edges and corners which might tear the cloth being in this manner obviated. It will be observed that a space is left between the minor end of the block and the bend of the strip, as indicated by the numeral 9. All the above described devices are connected by a suspension element, as above stated, and this element, in the present instance, is in the form of a small rectangular frame, indicated by the numeral 10. The four sides of this frame are received pivotally, one within each of the openings 9, and as a consequence, one of the gripping devices is pivotally connected and supported from each side of the frame 10. Rectangular gripping frames 11 are disposed one upon each of the blocks 5, loosely, and these gripping frames 11 are of such dimensions that while they may have free movement upon the upper portion of their respective blocks, they are too small to slip over the lower or major end of the block.

In assembling the corners of a sheet with the gripping elements of the device, the member 11 of the device with which each corner is to be assembled, is moved to about the position shown by that one of the devices which is swung up in Fig. l of the drawings and a corner of the sheet is inserted between the rear or inner face of the block of the device and the adjacent or cooperating side of the gripping member 11. The member is then swung down to sub stantially the position assumed by the three other members in this figure of the drawings, and as a result, the corners of the sheet will be firmly gripped and a scale beam hook may be readily engaged in one corner of the gripping member or frame 10.

What is claimed is:

In a device of the class described, a plurality of cloth gripping devices each comprising a wedge-shaped block, and a strip bent to substantially V-shape and having the block secured in its angle, the bend of the In testimony that I claim the foregoing as strip being spaced from the apex of the my oWn, I have hereto affixed my slgnature block, a gripping member fitted upon the in the presence of tWo Witnesses.

block, and a suspension member having a GEORGE L. EDGERTON. plurality of side portions each of which rests WVitnesses:

pivotally in the space between the bend of JACOB SMITH,

one of the strips and the apex of its block. JOHN SMITH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, I). C. 

